I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5888 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide grants 

for coordination of the TANF program with career pathways. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2018 

Mr. NEAL (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. 

LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. HIGGINS of 

New York, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, and Ms. JUDY CHU of California) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to provide grants for coordination of the TANF program 

with career pathways. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Access to 

5 Good Jobs for Parents Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING ACCESS TO GOOD JOBS FOR PARENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(a) of the Social Secu3 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘(6) GRANTS FOR COORDINATION OF TANF

6 WITH CAREER PATHWAYS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) FORMULA GRANTS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 An eligible applicant desiring to receive a 

10 grant under this subparagraph shall sub11 mit to the Secretary an application that 

12 sets forth a plan for how the grant will be 

13 used to— 

14 ‘‘(I)(aa) increase the number of 

15 recipients of assistance under a State 

16 or tribal program funded under this 

17 part with a secondary or recognized 

18 postsecondary credential (as defined 

19 in section 3(52) of the WIOA); 

20 ‘‘(bb) increase the number of the 

21 recipients engaged in training services 

22 described in section 134(c)(3)(D) of 

23 the WIOA; 

24 ‘‘(cc) increase the ability of the 

25 recipients to enter or advance within 

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1 pation (as defined in section 3(23) of 

2 the WIOA); 

3 ‘‘(dd) increase the use of career 

4 counselors, coordinators, or in-house 

5 navigators at providers of career and 

6 technical education (as defined in sec7 tion 3(5) of the Carl D. Perkins Ca8 reer and Technical Education Im9 provement Act of 2006), including 

10 community colleges, in providing in11 tensive support services for the recipi12 ents throughout their participation in 

13 education or training provided under 

14 the plan; and 

15 ‘‘(ee) increase the ability of the 

16 recipients to get a good job with liv17 able wages, access to health care, paid 

18 family, medical, and sick leave, pre19 dictable schedules, potential for ad20 vancement, and other employment 

21 benefits that help parents balance 

22 child-rearing and working; 

23 ‘‘(II) support the coordination 

24 and alignment of the State or tribal 

25 program funded under this part with 


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1 the use of career pathways (as defined 

2 in section 3(7) of the WIOA), through 

3 a collaboration, in 1 or more geo4 graphic areas in the State (or, if the 

5 applicant is an Indian tribe, tribal or6 ganization, or tribal consortium, in 1 

7 or more geographical area under the 

8 jurisdiction of the Indian tribe, tribal 

9 organization, or any Indian tribe or 

10 tribal organization that is part of the 

11 tribal consortium), with a local board 

12 (as defined in section 3(33) of the 

13 WIOA) or State board (as defined in 

14 section 3(57) of the WIOA), and at 

15 least 2 other entities, each of which is 

16 any of the following: 

17 ‘‘(aa) 1 or more representa18 tives of a business or other em19 ployers who may be in an indus20 try or sector partnership (as de21 fined in section 3(26) of the 

22 WIOA) that provides employment 

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1 ment in an in-demand industry 

2 sector or occupation (as so de3 fined) in the State (or, if the ap4 plicant is an Indian tribe, tribal 

5 organization, or tribal consor6 tium, in the geographical area 

7 under the jurisdiction of the In8 dian tribe, tribal organization, or 

9 any Indian tribe or tribal organi10 zation that is part of the tribal 

11 consortium). 

12 ‘‘(bb) A labor organization. 

13 ‘‘(cc) An institution of high14 er education (as defined in sec15 tion 3(28) of the WIOA). 

16 ‘‘(dd) A tribal college or uni17 versity (as defined in section 316 

18 of the Higher Education Act of 

19 1965). 

20 ‘‘(ee) A vocational rehabili21 tation program (as defined in 

22 section 3(64) of the WIOA). 

23 ‘‘(ff) A program that helps 

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1 cient (as defined in section 3(5) 

2 of the WIOA). 

3 ‘‘(gg) A provider of career 

4 and technical education (as de5 fined in section 3(5) of the Carl 

6 D. Perkins Career and Technical 

7 Education Improvement Act of 

8 2006). 

9 ‘‘(hh) A community-based 

10 organization (as defined in sec11 tion 3(10) of the WIOA) or other 

12 entity referred to in section 

13 3(26)(B) of the WIOA; and 

14 ‘‘(III) comply with the data re15 porting requirements prescribed under 

16 clause (vii). 

17 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—In 

18 clause (i), the term ‘eligible applicant’ 

19 means, with respect to an application, an 

20 entity that is— 

21 ‘‘(I)(aa) a State agency admin22 istering a State program funded 

23 under this part; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) a local agency admin2 istering the program in a sub-State 

3 area, if— 

4 ‘‘(AA) such a State program 

5 is administered on a county level; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(BB) 30 days has elapsed 

8 since the Secretary began accept9 ing applications for a grant 

10 under this subparagraph, and the 

11 State agency has not submitted 

12 an application pursuant to this 

13 subparagraph or publicly de14 clared an intention to do so; or 

15 ‘‘(cc) a tribal agency admin16 istering a tribal program funded 

17 under this part if 30 days has elapsed 

18 since the Secretary began accepting 

19 applications for a grant under this 

20 subparagraph, and the tribal agency 

21 has not submitted an application pur22 suant to this subparagraph or publicly 

23 declared an intention to do so; and 

24 ‘‘(II) located in an eligible State 

25 with respect to the application. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBLE STATE.—In clause 

2 (ii), the term ‘eligible State’ means, with 

3 respect to an application, a State, Indian 

4 tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consor5 tium, if— 

6 ‘‘(I) in the case of a State, the 

7 total amount payable to the State 

8 under section 418(a)(2)(C) for the fis9 cal year preceding the fiscal year in 

10 which the application is submitted 

11 equals the amount allotted to the 

12 State under section 418(a)(2)(B) for 

13 such preceding fiscal year; and 

14 ‘‘(II) in the case of any appli15 cant, the applicant has in effect poli16 cies to prevent the imposition of a 

17 sanction under the program of the ap18 plicant funded under this part with 

19 respect to an individual who has not 

20 been offered employment or an oppor21 tunity to participate in a training pro22 gram. 

23 ‘‘(iv) CORE SERVICES.—In clause 

24 (iii)(I)(bb), the term ‘core services’ means 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) Work-related activities pro2 vided under the State program funded 

3 under this part or any other State 

4 program funded with qualified State 

5 expenditures (as defined in section 

6 409(a)(7)(B)(i)). 

7 ‘‘(II) The provision of basic as8 sistance to needy families under the 

9 State program funded under this part 

10 or any other State program funded 

11 with qualified State expenditures (as 

12 defined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)). 

13 ‘‘(III) The provision of child care 

14 using funds made available under this 

15 part or any other State program fund16 ed with qualified State expenditures 

17 (as defined in section 

18 409(a)(7)(B)(i)), including funds 

19 transferred under section 

20 404(d)(1)(B). 

21 ‘‘(v) APPROVAL; DISAPPROVAL.— 

22 Within 30 days after receiving an applica23 tion submitted by an eligible applicant pur24 suant to this subparagraph, the Secretary 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) approve the application if— 

2 ‘‘(aa) the application meets 

3 the requirements of clause (i); 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(bb) there is sufficient re6 search to support using the plan 

7 set forth in the application to 

8 achieve the results described in 

9 clause (i)(I); or 

10 ‘‘(II) in any other case, dis11 approve the application, and provide 

12 the applicant with— 

13 ‘‘(aa) a written notice of the 

14 disapproval and a statement of 

15 the reasons for the disapproval; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(bb) an opportunity to sub18 mit a revised application pursu19 ant to this subparagraph. 

20 ‘‘(vi) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Sec21 retary shall make a grant to each applicant 

22 whose application is approved under clause 

23 (v), in an amount that gives— 

24 ‘‘(I) two-thirds weight to the per25 centage of the population of the 


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1 United States whose income is less 

2 than 125 percent of the poverty line 

3 (as determined according to data col4 lected by the Census Bureau) and who 

5 reside in the geographical area or 

6 areas in which the plan set forth in 

7 the application is to be implemented; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(II) one-third weight to the 

10 number of adults in the geographical 

11 area or areas that are recipients of as12 sistance under the State or tribal pro13 gram funded under this part. 

14 ‘‘(vii) USE OF FUNDS.— 

15 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A grantee 

16 under this subparagraph shall use the 

17 grant to carry out the plan set forth 

18 in the approved application for the 

19 grant, subject to subclause (II). 

20 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—Not more 

21 than 10 percent of a grant made 

22 under this subparagraph may be used 

23 as described in clause (i)(III). 

24 ‘‘(III) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUP25 PLANT.—Funds made available to 


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1 carry out this paragraph shall be used 

2 to supplement the level of Federal, 

3 State, and local public funds that, in 

4 the absence of the availability, would 

5 be expended to provide assistance to 

6 needy families, and in no case to sup7 plant the Federal, State, or local pub8 lic funds. 

9 ‘‘(viii) DATA REPORTING REQUIRE10 MENTS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

11 data reporting requirements for grantees 

12 under this subparagraph that, to the ex13 tent practicable, build on the structure of 

14 workforce development assessment sys15 tems, and measure how effective interven16 tions are on addressing barrier removal, 

17 rehabilitation, and job readiness skills 

18 needed to enter work or career and tech19 nical education programs. 

20 ‘‘(B) INNOVATION GRANTS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 An eligible applicant desiring to receive a 

23 grant under this subparagraph shall sub24 mit to the Secretary an application that 

25 sets forth a plan that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) meets the requirements of 

2 subparagraph (A)(i); and 

3 ‘‘(II) provides for the applicant 

4 to— 

5 ‘‘(aa) conduct a rigorous 

6 evaluation of the implementation 

7 of the plan; 

8 ‘‘(bb) submit the results of 

9 the evaluation to the Secretary; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(cc) make the results avail12 able to the general public. 

13 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—In 

14 clause (i), the term ‘eligible applicant’ 

15 means, with respect to an application, a 

16 public or nonprofit organization that— 

17 ‘‘(I) has not submitted an appli18 cation pursuant to subparagraph (A); 

19 ‘‘(II) is not participating in a col20 laboration described in such an appli21 cation; and 

22 ‘‘(III) is located in an eligible 

23 State (as defined in subparagraph 

24 (A)(iii)) with respect to the applica25 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) APPROVAL; DISAPPROVAL.— 

2 Subparagraph (A)(v) shall apply to an ap3 plication submitted by an eligible applicant 

4 pursuant to this subparagraph. 

5 ‘‘(iv) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Sec6 retary shall make grants, on a competitive 

7 basis, to eligible applicants whose applica8 tions are approved under clause (iii). 

9 ‘‘(v) USE OF FUNDS.—Subparagraph 

10 (A)(vii) shall apply with respect to a grant 

11 made under this subparagraph. 

12 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

13 Funds made available to carry out this section 

14 shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, 

15 the Federal, State, and local, or tribal, funds 

16 that, in the absence of such availability, would 

17 be expended to provide services to individuals 

18 receiving assistance under a State or tribal pro19 gram funded under this part or in support of 

20 workforce development activities (as defined in 

21 section 3(65) of the WIOA). 

22 ‘‘(D) APPROPRIATION.—Out of funds in 

23 the Treasury of the United States not otherwise 

24 appropriated, there are appropriated to carry 


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1 out this paragraph $1,000,000,000 for each fis2 cal year, of which— 

3 ‘‘(i) 90 percent shall be available for 

4 grants under subparagraph (A); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) 10 percent shall be available for 

6 grants under subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(E) WIOA DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 

8 the term ‘WIOA’ means the Workforce Innova9 tion and Opportunity Act.’’. 

10 (b) EXEMPTION FROM LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS

11 TO TERRITORIES.—Section 1108(a)(2) of such Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 1308(a)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘403(a)(6),’’ 

13 before ‘‘406’’. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2018. 

Æ 


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